Mr Spock

That is really good. Incredible amount of detail.

It's nice to see the difference to the illumination. It's a shame we don't have the weather to follow the phases each day through a single cycle. I think that would be great to see.

I find using a laser is easy and gets the scope collimated near enough. I then fine tune with a star test. Keeping it as simple as possible is usually the most satisfying and productive solution.

Humans do have inquisitive minds. It's how we progress as a species. Without that a lot of the scientific advances we have made would not have happened.

I sometimes think the purpose of astronomy activities is to empty my bank account...

Hi, welcome to SGL

Prinz 550 was my first scope! I still have some of the 0.965" eyepieces - 12mm and 6mm Kellner and 4mm Ortho. It's a really nice scope. Great for doubles.

Hi, welcome to SGL The 'edge' is meant to represent the farthest point we can detect.

On a good night my C9.25 split 0.7" and had very tight, tiny airy discs. Mostly though a bit fuzzy. I do believe it is the seeing conditions - large scopes in general are more vulnerable. My 80ED, an ageing Celestron, gives lovely star views. Not much matches it for colour rendition. Everything seems more vivid.

We are back on track. Yesterday I managed to pick up a 4mm Circle-T Ortho to match the rest of my collection That gives x300, so, just about right. I need the 5mm now, x240, and maybe slip in the 6mm, x200. I have a vintage 0.965" 4mm ortho so I'm aware of the eye relief. It's tight but usable.

Having just acquired a 4mm, I'm still looking for a 6mm and 5mm.

40 year old computer...? The gears should have seized by now

There's a also a difference between quality and design, and the two shouldn't be confused. For example, the standard Plössls which come with scopes are often poor quality; a good quality Plössl is a completely different animal and can give close to the best views you can get - try a TV Plössl I've used many different eyepieces over the years. Right now the ones I enjoy the most are my orthoscopics. Despite the small eye relief at high powers and the narrow field of view, there's just something 'right' about the views. With different designs you pay for wider fields of view and more

A very interesting region and an excellent image.

Hmm, just had a look at that upgrade. Looks promising